Volume One, Chapter Twenty-Three: Shadows

After Mode and the other three reunited, they made their way upward without further trouble. It seemed that the herd of giant-horned rock rams had been the final hurdle of this autumn hunt. Upon reaching the military camp in the upper half of Cangyan Mountain, they entered and received their “marker”—a red-yellow stone plaque engraved with a serial number. The one in Su Ziwen’s hand read “012,” suggesting that eleven teams had already arrived before them.

“When you head back, just follow the signs over there. There’s a cable car that will take you straight down. Vehicles are waiting below to drive you back,” said the officer behind the service desk, pushing up her glasses. “We’ve just received a forecast—fog is starting to gather around Cangyan Mountain. You should head down soon and return to the autumn hunt base.”

Su Ziwen nodded in thanks and then led the group out of the tent, heading toward the sign marking the route back.

“I suspect it’s not just fog condensing,” Su Ziwen said on the way down, startling the others. “That officer is hiding something. She’s worried about something.”

“And that something,” Su Ziwen continued, locking eyes with Mode, “could be the accident you mentioned earlier. After we reported to the school through the Book of Heaven, we didn’t get any concrete instructions—just a caution to stay alert. Although there were some minor troubles along the way, nothing was truly dangerous. We weren’t pushed to our limits, and now on the return trip, we’re being transported by vehicle. Even I haven’t come close to exhausting my stamina. The food rations we received at the start were clearly meant to last us through the return trip as well.” Mode hefted his backpack; sure enough, there was still plenty of food and water inside.

“This autumn hunt felt almost too easy—like they were in a hurry for us to collect our markers and get back.” Ji Keqing’s hands and feet went cold as she listened, while Wu Fan beside her broke out in a nervous sweat.

“Maybe, upon receiving our report, the school and the military discovered something. It wasn’t dangerous enough to abort the hunt, but it was enough for them to cancel the remaining trials and rush us to finish up and leave.”

“Of course, that’s just my speculation,” Su Ziwen concluded, removing her glasses to polish them.

The four boarded the cable car. After Mode started it, he slipped into the cabin as the car swayed down the mountain with a creaking sound. When they reached the foot, a military jeep was waiting. A driver poked his head out the window to call them over. When he saw Wu Fan emerge from the cable car, he turned to the person in the passenger seat, said something, then addressed Wu Fan, “You there—yes, you! Come up front. The rest of you squeeze in the back. We’ll head out right away.”

The original front-seat passenger, a boy, climbed out—it was Song Yue, the class monitor of Class One. He greeted Su Ziwen and yielded his seat to Wu Fan. Wu Fan scratched his face awkwardly but didn’t refuse; given his build, squeezing into the back would have been a greater ordeal for everyone.

“Groups 10, 11, and 12 are on board. Preparing to depart,” the driver barked into his radio, started the engine, and drove off. Through the rear window, Mode saw another military jeep pull up and wait by the cable car’s landing site.

“Didn’t expect we’d get a ride back—school’s pretty considerate, though I feel like the fun ended too soon,” Song Yue said cheerfully. He greeted his own group, then sat down next to Mode and struck up a conversation. “Especially on the mountainside—we ran into a herd of giant-horned rams. As we were about to break through, some hero showed up and single-handedly led the whole herd away. If I’m not mistaken, there must have been fifty or sixty rams behind him. That’s real courage.”

Mode responded with vague murmurs, his attention half on Song Yue and half on Su Ziwen.

The military jeep was roomy, but with ten people and all their gear, space was tight. After days of exertion and no chance to wash, the air inside the vehicle was thick and unpleasant.

This was a particular misery for Su Ziwen, already prone to carsickness. Her petite form curled between Ji Keqing and Mode, the usual cool composure stripped away as her face turned visibly paler by the second. Her eyes were tightly shut, and her clenched fists trembled as she fought to endure.

Mode silently cursed himself for not switching seats with her and letting her sit by a window. All he could do was prepare a plastic bag just in case.

“Hang in there, Captain!”—at that moment, both Ji Keqing and Mode found themselves silently praying the same thing.

Fortunately, the officer driving was expert—speedy yet smooth, never letting the ride tip Su Ziwen over the edge.

When they finally arrived at the autumn hunt base and the jeep rolled to a stop, Mode and Song Yue quickly said their goodbyes. Ji Keqing shouted toward the front, “Fatty, watch the bags!” and both she and Mode abandoned their luggage, each taking an arm to help Su Ziwen toward the restrooms.

Mode waited beneath the shade of a tree, anxious as he listened to the sounds coming from the restroom. After a long while, Ji Keqing emerged, supporting a weakened Su Ziwen. Glasses off, hair disheveled, Su Ziwen looked utterly spent.

They sat her down under the tree to rest. Soon, Wu Fan and Song Yue arrived, carrying their bags.

Wu Fan brought good news: while waiting for the rest of the students to return, they could use spare rooms at the base to rest, and even apply for the bathhouse.

“What happened to Captain Su?” Song Yue asked, curious at the sight of Su Ziwen slumped under the tree.

“It’s nothing, she’s just a bit worn out,” Wu Fan replied naturally, then fell into conversation with Song Yue. It seemed the shared front seat had made them fast friends—a bond evident even in their parting.

The four collected their personal items, left in the care of the autumn hunt base, and made their way to the bathhouse. Even Su Ziwen and Ji Keqing couldn’t tolerate their own smell after days without washing—though the boys won the race to cleanliness. Mode and Wu Fan changed into fresh clothes and returned to their team’s assigned room for some rest.

The room was clearly a makeshift arrangement—just two camp beds and nothing else. The beds were for the girls, while Mode and Wu Fan sat on the floor, unpacked their bags, and enjoyed a modest “afternoon tea.”

A knock sounded. Mode answered; outside, Ji Keqing and Su Ziwen, now refreshed, entered with their luggage.

“This is a bit too minimalist...” Ji Keqing remarked, unimpressed by the barren room.

“Gather up your protective gear, knives, boots, and so on,” Wu Fan said through a mouthful of ham, barely intelligible. “I’ll return them to the base quartermaster later.”

Ji Keqing and Su Ziwen ate a little as well. Though they’d be riding back to Qin City soon, Su Ziwen’s health was hardly robust enough to make the trip on an empty stomach.

After they’d eaten, Su Ziwen lay down and quickly drifted to sleep—her carsickness had taken a greater toll than the entire autumn hunt. The other three gathered their belongings and tiptoed out, planning to repeat their earlier strategy: when the time came, Mode would simply carry the sleeping Su Ziwen onto the bus.

A faint mist rose as the clouds thickened, the afternoon sun filtering through growing gaps in the sky. Jeeps shuttled rapidly between Cangyan Mountain and the autumn hunt base, as if racing against time. More and more students gathered in the base, chatting excitedly about their experiences. Mode, Wu Fan, and Ji Keqing stood in the corridor, gazing outside in silence. Su Ziwen’s earlier words lingered in their minds, making it impossible to fully relax, even though the hunt was over and they would soon return to the safety of civilization.

Suddenly, a distinctive vibration—unique to “Tide”—buzzed from Mode’s phone.

He turned aside, unlocked the device, and opened the message. In the next instant, Mode’s pupils contracted and his breath caught as he read the terse message from Tide:

“Qin Emperor is abnormal. Calamity Church has appeared. Return immediately.”

Outside, the daylight dimmed, bit by bit.